Girl Learning To Drive, Teacher Cited In Crash

Clinton News Notes

October 24, 1995

Two people were issued traffic infractions after a nearly head-on collision that totaled two cars on Route 1 Sunday morning, police said.

The driver charged was a 17- year-old girl learning to drive, who abruptly and inexplicably turned into the oncoming lane, Cpl. Albert Hawkes said. The accident was caused by the girl's inattentiveness, Hawkes said.

The driver, Barbara Mather, 17, of Clinton, was driving a 1989 Subaru. The owner of the car, Susan Ingersoll, 29, of Killingworth, told police she was teaching Mather to drive, although she is not a certified driving instructor, Hawkes said. A 15-year-old boy also was in the car at the time of the accident.

The Subaru hit a 1989 Chevrolet driven by Dorothy Grana, 81. Her passenger was her husband, Aldo Grana, 85. The couple lives in Wallingford.

Witnesses said Grana tried to avoid the accident and was driving about 20 mph at the time of impact.

Mather was issued a traffic infraction for driving without a license. Ingersoll was ticketed for failing to drive in an established lane and failing to control a vehicle under instruction, Hawkes said. Ingersoll is responsible for those charges, even though she wasn't driving the car at the time, he said.